Confrontation
by Junebugsm
Summary: The kids overhear Stef and Lena fighting in Lucky (310) and confront them about it.


**The kids overhear Stef and Lena fighting in** ** _Lucky (310)_** **and confront them about it.**

(A request by FostersFanaticcc1 where the kids overhear Stef and Lena fighting in **Lucky (310)** and confront them about it.)

* * *

 _"Why not?" Stef asked, her voice filled with pain. "Why not? Why didn't you?" She paused, waiting for an answer she knew wasn't coming. "Cuz of me? I suppose it's my fault because I didn't pay enough attention to you, is that it?"_

* * *

And each kid wanted to know the very same answers. It had come as a shock to all of them. They knew that their moms had been fighting lately and going to therapy but they never imagined that one of them would cheat on the other. It hit each one hard and, like always, they sought comfort in each other.

Jude was the first one to show up at the girls' door.

"Hey Bud." Callie said as she sat up in bed to give her brother room as well.

"What do you think will happen?" Jude asked as he sat down, his knees drawn up to his chin and his arms around his legs. He looked nothing like the confidant thirteen year old he'd become since becoming an Adams Foster.

"Nothing." Callie tried to be encouraging. "I'm sure they're just worked up. Everyone fights sometimes right?" She gave him a smile.

"Never like this?" Mariana said, clearly just as nervous as Jude and Callie. "I've lived here nine years and they've never fought like this."

Callie wasn't sure what to do. She was so used to protecting her brother but right now, in this moment, with this family, she had no idea how to do that. She couldn't judge what was about to happen because this wasn't just any family. Until now every family had been a _foster_ family but this time it was _her_ family.

"Come on, let's go see what Brandon's up to." Callie suggested, both needing the distraction as well as hoping the most stable of all the kids would have some answers.

The three of them knocked on Brandon's door and when they got no response Mariana entered to find Brandon lying on his bed with earphones on.

"OH MY GOD." Mariana yelled as she yanked the earphones out of her brother's ears. "Did you really not hear that?" She asked in surprise and annoyance.

"Ouch." Brandon said for effect. "And hear what?" He questioned.

"Mom's fighting." Mariana answered, pointing in the general direction of their room.

"They're always fighting." Brandon said in resignation as she began to stick the earphones back in his ears.

"Not like this." Mariana said firmly, making sure he didn't just dismiss it.

"Why?" Brandon asked sarcastically. "What new thing did they find to fight about now?"

"You really have that way too loud if you missed it." Mariana said, pointing to his music.

At this Brandon turned to look at his other two siblings and noticed the nervous looks on their faces and immediately his mind was on the conversation at hand.

"What are they fighting about?" He asked again but with interest this time.

"Mama cheated on mom." Mariana explained in a tone that told Brandon he should have already known that by now.

"What?" Brandon asked in disbelief. "No, that's not possible." His moms fought but he never doubted their love for each other and he never imagined _this._ "There has to be some mistake." Brandon said, still unable to believe it having not heard the fight himself.

"I think it's true." Callie said regretfully.

Brandon sighed as she thought about what he was told. "What exactly did they say?" He asked, hoping that the actual conversation would give him some insight.

"That mama cheated on mom." Mariana stated in an obvious tone, annoyed at her brother for not being more freaked out.

"Apparently Stef hasn't been paying enough attention to Lena and I guess Lena found it somewhere else." Callie explained. She understood that Brandon was having a hard time.

Finally Brandon's face took on a look that was more appropriate for the matter at hand. "I can't believe this." He mumbled, more to himself than to those in the room.

"I'm sorry." Callie said, knowing that this would have hit him hard. She loved her moms to bits but it must be much harder for Brandon and Mariana who had been a part of this family for most of their lives.

"Who?" Brandon asked, looking up at the girl, desperately needing more information.

"They never said." Mariana took over again. Now that Brandon believed them she wanted to get on with discussing it.

"And you're sure she cheated?" Brandon clarified one last time.

"Stef asked how someone could just fall in love without any help from the person they fell in love with and Lena said that she never encouraged it but didn't do anything to stop it." Mariana said in a huff. "What do you think that means?" She asked, challenging the older boy to give her a better explanation.

"I don't believe this." Brandon said again, still trying to wrap his mind around it all.

"What's going to happen?" Jude asked, speaking for the first time in a soft voice.

All eyes turned back to Brandon. For some reason he became the model for all of them to follow; it was his reaction that would help them all figure things out. Whether it was because he was the oldest or had lived with Stef and Lena the longest or simply because he was the only one who hadn't ever been in the system and therefore didn't quite understand what it would mean if their moms split, he never knew but he could see that he had to tread carefully or his siblings would freak out.

"I don't know bud." Brandon answered as truthfully but as gently as he could.

But that did absolutely nothing to relax the other three.

"I'm going to call Jesus." Mariana said as she disappeared out the door. Whenever things weren't quite right he was the one she always went to.

"They're going to split up aren't they?" Jude asked, still a little nervous about what would happen.

"No." Brandon said forcefully, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. "No." He said again for emphasis.

Jude looked at Callie but the look on her face told him that she didn't believe Brandon either.

"It has to be bad right?" Callie asked. "They never fight like that."

"They've been fighting a lot lately." Brandon admitted. He'd heard them and he knew the others had heard them too.

"So were they fighting because of this or was this because they were fighting?" Callie asked, wondering how this all started.

But no one had the answer and as a result they all felt so unsettled.

* * *

"Let's just get this day over with please." Stef said early the following morning as she headed into the bathroom to shower. She was completely stressed and she felt like there was no one she could talk to about any of it.

The most important thing on her mind was the test results - she couldn't wait to get them and find out what was happening but at the same time she felt a sense of peace while waiting because as long as there was no proof then she could believe she was fine.

Then she was worried about was Callie's adoption. Yes, it was all set and just a couple of days away but that's what they'd thought the last time and things didn't go the way they wanted so she just couldn't help but hope it was all going to go smoothly and think up loopholes just in case they didn't.

Add to that there was the anniversary party, the hunt for the person that nearly killed her twins, the everyday matters to deal with and now Monty. And to top it all off Stef felt like she was all alone because Lena clearly wasn't with her on all this.

"I love you." Lena called after her disappearing wife. She knew Stef was mad and she had every right to be but she just wished Stef would see how much she loved her and yes, she'd kept the kiss a secret but only because she didn't want to hurt Stef. It had meant nothing and it would never happen again and what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

Lena hadn't expected a response and didn't get one. She sighed as she made the bed and then went downstairs to start breakfast. She knew that if she just gave Stef a little space to cool off then everything would eventually be okay.

But that was before she was confronted by her kids...

* * *

"What are you all doing up so early?" Lena asked the four kids already in the kitchen. "I thought I'd have to drag you all out of bed today."

What surprised Lena was that none of them actually answered her. Brandon just shrugged, Mariana ignored her, Callie looked uncomfortable and Jude was giving her a rather angry look.

"Alright who did what?" Lena asked expecting one of them to begin complaining about another.

"You should know." Mariana mumbled, sticking a spoonful of cereal into her mouth to avoid having to explain that statement to Lena.

"Whatever it is, it'd better to own up to it now." Lena said, having not heard Mariana.

And that was enough for Mariana who dropped her spoon back into the bowl with a loud clang. "Well, I didn't cheat on mom." She said before turning to Callie. "Was it you Callie?"

Callie looked instantly uncomfortable as did the two boys and Lena's eyes went wide as she realized what was going on. They were all too shocked at Mariana's outburst to say anything.

"Oh no wait, it was you." Mariana added butterfly to Lena before pushing her bowl away and disappearing up the stairs to her room.

Lena watched her go and then turned back to her other children and found them all watching her, waiting for an answer or explanation.

"I... I didn't cheat on mom." Lena finally tried to explain. "I..." But she felt so uncomfortable saying that she just kissed someone else.

"What's wrong with Miss Thing?" Stef asked, interrupting the tension in the room. "She hasn't slammed her door that hard since we told her she had to share her room with Callie."

Callie couldn't help the small smirk that graced her face at the memory.

 _Callie and Jude had headed back to the living room for the night and Stef and Lena had kept the twins back to remind them that they were guests in this house and deserved to be treated nicely._

 _"Why can't they just stay in the living room?" Mariana had asked. "It's not like they're staying forever."_

 _"Mariana." Stef said in disappointment. She had hoped for a little more understanding and compassion from her daughter._

 _"No, you can't just do that." Mariana defended. "You can't just force me to live with some strange convict." She said as she left the room and upon reaching her bedroom, slammed the door hard."_

"They, um..." Lena tried to explain. She wasn't sure if she should say _they think I cheated on you_ because she wondered if that's what Stef thought too. But she hand't _cheated_ on her. "They think I had an affair." Lena explained, hoping that Stef would tell them that they were wrong.

Stef's eyebrows raised as she turned to her kids. "What makes you think that?" She asked them with a frown.

No one spoke. Callie and Jude were beyond uncomfortable and Brandon hand't actually heard the fight himself so he wasn't really sure what was said.

"Well?" Stef prompted. If the kids had seen something then she wanted to know about it and if not then she wanted to know how this had started. She believed Lena when she'd said that nothing had happened. She was still angry and hurting but she trusted Lena and her intentions and she didn't want the kids starting rumors without having all the facts.

"We, we heard you fighting last night." Brandon finally said, realizing that it was up to him to answer. The other two looked a bit like deer caught in headlights.

"What exactly did you hear?" Stef asked. She realized that they must have been louder than they thought for the kids to know what they were fighting about but she knew that the word affair never came up so why would they think that.

"Well, I didn't actually hear the fight." Brandon said sheepishly.

"Then who did?" Stef asked, realizing that one of the kids did and made all the others just believed them. Her first guess would be Mariana but she wasn't completely sure about that.

"The others." Brandon answered.

All eyes turned to Callie and Jude who immediately looked even more uncomfortable than before.

"What did you hear?" Stef asked them.

"Not much." Callie tried to cover up though she knew it wouldn't be of much use. Stef was never going to let it go without getting all the information. The fact that Stef was annoyed with them made it clear that Lena hadn't cheated but what she couldn't figure out was what the fight was about then.

"Well tell me what little you did hear then." Stef said firmly.

Callie fidgeted in her seat as she glanced to Brandon for some help that she knew he couldn't give. Stef saw the look and knew that Mariana would be the one to voice her opinions the most - she wouldn't be nervous but would be loud and clear about how she felt.

"Brandon go call your sister." Stef ordered though her eyes never left her older daughter. On the one hand she was upset that her kids would start rumors like this without knowing all the facts but on the other she was disheartened to see that Callie and Jude still felt uncomfortable when it came to making mistakes. All kids made mistakes and Stef didn't want them to be afraid to own up to them or come to them for help when it happened.

"We heard it all so don't deny it." Mariana said as she came down the stairs.

Stef smiled inwardly as Mariana boldly made her accusation. This is what she hoped from the Jacob siblings eventually.

"What exactly did you hear?" Stef asked again, this time directing it to her younger daughter.

"That Lena looked for attention from someone else." Mariana said.

Stef nodded once, indicating that she understood but then followed through. "Okay, and where exactly did you get affair from all of that?" She asked.

"I just assumed that's what you meant." Mariana said. She too was beginning to realize that she was probably wrong but she wasn't sorry for it - something had obviously happened and Lena was to blame so the only thing she got wrong was the reason.

"Well that just makes the saying true doesn't it? You made an ass out of all of us." Stef said.

"Stef." Lena chastised gently. She was glad that Stef was putting a stop to the misunderstanding, especially since she felt it would have more meaning coming from her rather than Lena herself but still she didn't want Stef to get too upset, after all she had made a mistake.

Stef turned to Lena for a moment before turning back to her kids.

"Sit down." She instructed Mariana and Brandon who were still standing and waited until they did so before continuing. "Mama didn't have an affair." Stef said clearly. "She may have done something that I am angry about but she definitely didn't have an affair and I want to make that very clear."

"I would never do that." Lena injected. "I love mom and I made a mistake." She said honestly. "But I thought I was protecting her but instead I hurt her and I'm sorry for that." Lena said, hoping that in this way even Stef would listen and forgive her.

But Stef wasn't having any of it. She didn't want to feel bad for Lena or understand her reasons for keeping it a secret. So she moved on.

"You all know better than to spread rumors." Stef said in disappointment. "If you don't have all the facts then don't just jump to conclusions. There was absolutely no mention of an affair or any kind so I think you all owe mama an apology."

Shamefully all the kids apologized and Lena graciously forgave them and reminded them once again that she never had and never would cheat on their mother.

"So what did she do?" Mariana asked, wanting to know what the truth was.

"That's not your business.." Stef began but was interrupted by Lena.

"I kissed someone." Lena said. She wanted to be honest now, especially since she wanted them to know for sure that they weren't covering anything up. "Well, she kissed me." She clarified. "I didn't tell mom because I didn't want to hurt her. It meant nothing and was never going to happen again so I figured why put her through all that but then someone else did tell her and she was even more upset then if I'd told her myself."

She hoped another lesson would be learned from this - that it was better to be honest and own up right from the start before it created an even bigger issue.

"Who?" Mariana asked. All the kids had the same thought but only she was bold enough to actually ask it.

"That doesn't matter." Stef said and this time Lena agreed with her. Monty was their principal and the kids didn't need that particular detail.

"So you're just mad that she didn't tell you?" Mariana turned to Stef and clarified.

"I'm upset it happened and I'm upset that she kept it from me but I believe her when she says that's all that happened." Stef explained.

"Okay." Mariana accepted the answer. She turned back to Lena. "I'm sorry." She repeated, more meaningfully this time.

"Apology accepted." Lena said with a smile. "And I'm sorry too, for this mess I made."

The kids all nodded in acceptance and soon Stef sent them off to do their own thing while she got herself some breakfast.

* * *

"Thank you." Lena said once the kids were gone. "I know they believed it because you told them."

"Don't thank me Lena." Stef said in a cold, hard voice. "I didn't do it for you, I did it for them."

"Stef." Lena tried to reason with her. "I didn't want to hurt you." She explained again.

"Well you did." Stef snapped angrily. "You did and you can't just make it go away."

Lena sighed. She'd hoped that explaining it to the kids would help Stef mellow down but clearly it hadn't.

"It doesn't change the fact that you still liked the attention Lena." Stef reminded her. "You still wanted it even if you didn't actually go for it yourself." Stef's eyes were fiery with anger but the hurt was clearly visible as well. "So don't thank me." She repeated. "Because I can't help but wonder how far it would have eventually gone had it not been for Jenna telling me the truth.


End file.
